


Date Roulette: Supplemental

by just_a_noona



Series: Date Roulette [2]
Category: Big Bang (Band), Block B, Winner (Band)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-05-21 03:27:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14907434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_a_noona/pseuds/just_a_noona
Summary: Short stories and scenes from Date Roulette, from a different point of view.





	1. Seungri Week, Thursday - Jiyong

She was sweeping eyeliner over her eyes. Her hands were careful, but steady and sure. She seemed better now, but I was still worried.

Her eyes shifted to look at me after she finished one lid.

“What is it?”

I clicked my tongue against my teeth. I knew that Seungri could make mistakes. He got ahead of himself, he made assumptions, he acted without thinking clearly.

“Is it the pictures?” She was staring back into the mirror now, finishing her eyeliner.

“Did he do something? Is Seungri treating you well?”

“Seungri is fine. He was really nice about it. I just,” she shrugged, pouting her lips slightly with the movement, “I don’t know. It’s a weird situation. It’s tough.”

She turned to face me, that small pout still on her lips. I forced myself to not look at them.

“I’m having emotions is all. How do I look?”

I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes. She looked pretty. Beautiful actually. But that wasn’t what she needed from me. She probably already knew that, anyway.

I gestured for her to spin for me. She turned, shifting from foot to foot like a child. I allowed myself a smile while her back was turned.

“Good,” I nodded when she was facing me again. “If you’re uncomfortable, why are you going out tonight? There will be a lot of people.”

“Yeah,” she started pulling drawers open and checking little bags on the countertop. “But Soo-Ah is going. She said she was invited, so that’s something to look after.”

She sounded like me. Like a leader of a group. Watching after her friend. From her tone of voice I could tell that she was concerned for her friend. Probably because she was feeling so stressed by her own situation. Did she want to help her friend avoid the same stress?

She tied her hair up, and my eyes fell to her neck. She had a freckle under her left ear. It drew the eye.

“Leave it down,” I blurted out.

“Why?”

“Your neck is too…” I stopped, not wanting to give myself away, “Seungri might…” I stopped again, struggling with how to phrase what I wanted to say. “Well, you saw how he was when he was drunk.”

“He gets into skinship,” she shrugged, “but he didn’t seem that bad. I think you’re just being jealous again.”

As much as it annoyed me, she was right. She was right about me being jealous anyway. I knew Seungri better than her though.

“Fine, I’m being jealous. But,” I let my uneasiness get the better of me, “Seungri gets impatient sometimes.”

She hummed a sort of dismissive note and left the small bathroom.

I sighed, letting my head fall back. I didn’t need this stress.

But… I didn’t really mind. I kind of liked looking after her.

* * *

 

She asked for my help with jewellry. I don’t know why, but I told her to ask Daesung. Sure, he was better at women’s accessories than I was but as soon as she texted him I regretted saying it. I didn’t want an interloper on this little bit of one-on-one time that I had.

“I think I’m actually early,” she was looking at her phone.

I went through to the living room and sat back in her big chair.

“It will give you a chance to get used to the outfit. Go get your shoes on.”

“Why?”

“To get used to them,” I gestured towards her bedroom, “go get them.”

“I know how to walk in heels,” she sassed me. But she went back and got the shoes regardless.

I leaned back in the chair and watched her retreat down the hallway. I had chosen a good outfit. Too good. I was annoyed that it was for Seungri.

She brought the heels to the living room and pulled them on. She seemed to be struggling with the ankle straps.

“These things are ridiculous.”

“I’ll do it.”

I bent and pushed her hands aside. Closing the buckles, I looked up at her with a smile.

Taking her in, my breath caught for a moment.

The outfit was too good. She was too good.

She took a step back, looking a little shy.

Fair enough. I was head level with her thighs, and her skirt was a little shorter than usual. Maybe I should break the silence.

“Not too tight?”

“It’s fine,” she nodded. She looked down at the shoes, twisting her leg to check it from another angle.

Her skirt rode up slightly with the movement. I stood up to avoid the temptation of a certain glance.

She stepped back quickly, nearly falling.

I quickly reached out to stop her from getting hurt. My hand closed around her wrist, and I found I could feel her pulse under my index finger and thumb.

“I thought you said you know how to walk in heels?”

“You surprised me is all.”

I felt my smile widen. Lifting one eyebrow, I slowly pulled her closer to my body. I could feel her pulse pick up.

“You’re lying.”

“What?”

I tightened my grip on her wrist, then loosened up again.

“I can feel your blood racing.”

Her cheeks were turning a pretty pink colour.

“Like I said,” her eyes were locked onto mine, as if she was trying to see whether or not I believed her, “you surprised me.”

I didn’t believe her. I could still feel it, running quickly just beneath the surface of her skin. I know mine must be behaving similarly.

Almost without thinking, I tried to get her closer to me.

“It would have calmed down by now,” I slid my other hand around her waist, pressing her tighter against me. “But it’s going even faster.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” She looked defiant when she said it. I was… less that offended.

“Maybe,” my eyes fell to her lips, “But I think you-”

Her door buzzed.

She seemed to pull herself out of a fog. Clearing her throat, running her hands absent-mindedly over her skirt, she subconsciously made sure she was presentable.

I shook my head. Daesung really had the worst timing.

* * *

 

I was reading when my phone started ringing. I carefully marked my page and checked the screen. It was Seungri.

“Aren’t you on a date?”

“Hyung,” I sat up quickly. I knew this tone of voice.

“Hyung I fucked up.”

I was already standing, hurrying for my shoes and wallet.

“What the fuck did you do?”

“I… I just wanted to kiss her.”

I fumbled with my shoes, trying to get out the door as fast as I could.

“God damn it. You’re fucking wasted aren’t you? You’re a goddamn degenerate Lee Seungri.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt her, I was ju-”

I was in the hallway now, hurrying towards the stairs. Waiting for an elevator would take too long.

“You hurt her?! If you hurt her I will kill you Seungri! Just stay where you are! I’ll be there soon.”

I saw a door pop open. Daesung’s head peeked out. I waved him off and opened the door to the stairs.

I paused, considering what to do. If something had happened…

I thought about Luna. About her outfit. Those stupid shoes.

I ran up one flight of stairs.

* * *

 

“Oppa! I didn’t think you’d come out,” Jisoo was pressed against my arm by the crowd.

I nodded, not really paying attention. Rose quickly joined us, being forced against my other side by the mass of people.

“Hi sunbae. Are you here to se-”

I didn’t have time for this.

“Have you guys seen Seungri? Or his date, Luna?”

Jisoo looked a little taken aback by my interruption. I could apologise later. I was on a mission.

“Uh… I think Seungri is in the green room. That foreigner that was with him is…” Rose looked around the venue. “I just saw her with Mino a minute ago. They went that way I think.”

She gestured towards a door that was marked as being for private parties. I felt my already racing blood pressure elevate even more.

She was alone with Mino? She had gone to Mino when something happened. If it was as bad as Seungri had made it sound, she was probably in a vulnerable state right now. So she was alone, possibly drunk, while already vulnerable, with Mino.

“I’m going to fucking kill someone tonight,” I muttered.

“What?” Jisoo looked at me, shocked.

“Nothing,” I shook my head, “I have to go.”

Jisoo pouted, but I brushed it off.

* * *

 

I worked my way through the crowd, brushing off attempted conversations as quickly as I could along the way.

Finally, after what felt like fifteen minutes, I was at the door. I rapped against it hard.

“Luna? Luna are you in there? Seungri called me. Aish!”

After a few seconds the door was cracked open. I swung it open, forcing my way into the room. I heard it crash against the wall but I didn’t care.

Luna was sitting at the bar, obviously unsteady. A bottle stood on the bar next to her.

“Luna! Are you okay? Jesus…” I pulled her off the seat and against my chest, trying to somehow shield her. “How much have you had to drink?”

“What are you doing here?” her voice sounded annoyed.

“Seungri called me,” I loosened my grip on her, holding onto her shoulders so that I could look at her properly. “He said he messed up.”

She didn’t say anything. Her face was blank.

I carefully directed her back to her seat. Once she had that sturdier position, I pulled off my backpack and kneeled in front of her.

“Seungri seemed pretty upset,” I said it into my backpack. I was on a mission here.

“Good.”

The vehemence in her voice made me pause and look up at her. She avoided my gaze. I shook my head and went back to my task at hand.

I quickly undid her heels and pulled them off. I had grabbed some sneakers from her suite before coming, and I now slid them onto her feet. I tied up the laces and stood up.

“Alright,” I finally addressed Mino, “I’ll take care of this. Go.”

Mino started to nod but Luna had other ideas.

“No!” She was shaking her head. “I want Mino here. Mino’s helping.”

That triggered something inside me.

“Helping?” I couldn’t believe that, “it looked like he was getting you drunk.”

“Hyung,” Mino raised his hands, “I wa-”

“Yah! Jiyong!” Luna was on her feet now, pushing at my chest. Pushing me away. “Mino isn’t the one to worry about. He hasn’t touched me. He didn’t…”

She seemed to choke on her words then. She stopped, covering her face with a hand. After a deep breath, she spoke up again.

“Just go take care of Seungri, Jiyong.” She sounded shaky, but still sure. “I’ll take care of myself.”

I felt useless. I looked her over, looking for some reason to stay by her side. I found it on her wrist. Or… not on her wrist.

I lifted a hand and traced my fingertip over a red mark there.

“Jagi… what happened? Where’s your bracelet?”

She pulled her hand away from her face, eyes tracing over her unadorned wrist. She pulled both of her hands behind her back.

“I… I can’t talk about it. Not right now,” she stared me down. Her gaze was intense. I could see how much pressure she was under behind her eyes. “We can talk tomorrow, okay?”

I bit my lip, giving her another visual assessment. She was drunk, but cogent. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that she had had a rough night. I didn’t like it, but I nodded.

“Fine. Promise me that you’ll call me if you have to, okay?” I pleaded with her. “Even if you don’t want to.”

“Okay,” she nodded, staring at the floor, “thanks for the shoes.”

“Of course.”

I reached up and brushed her hair from her face.

My heart hurt. I didn’t want to leave her like this.

I let myself give in just a little bit. I leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

I just had one last thing to do before I went and murdered Seungri. I looked to Mino.

“Hallway.”

“Yes hyung,” he nodded, pulling open the door.

* * *

 

Once in the hallway I fixed Mino with the harshest glare I could muster.

“You know that I can, and **will** , end your career if I have to.”

Mino bowed his head, nodding slightly at my words.

“Of course hyung.”

“And I will have to if anything happens to her,” I gestured towards the door.

“I won’t let anything happen. Hyung I pro-”

“I know you won’t.”

Mino looked up at me, confused by that last sentence.

“Then why a-”

“Stop,” I didn’t care about his dumb questions. “I need you to understand something Mino. I know that you **think** you like Luna. You **think** that you care about her. But I need you to look at me and **know** that what I am about to say is not an empty threat.”

I could tell that I had his full attention.

“If I catch even a hint that anything happened to her while I left her if your care,” I paused for emphasis, “if she even mentions feeling,” I shrugged, “a little uncomfortable... the end of your career won’t even register on the scale of your misfortune.”

* * *

 

I found Seungri in the green room like Rose had said.

He was sitting with his head in his hands, an assortment of alcohol on the table in front of him.

“If your life wasn’t so tightly wound into my own I would leave you here to fend for yourself.”

Seungri looked up at me, his eyes red and unfocused.

“Hyung… I… I think I fucked up.”

“Fucked up doesn’t begin to cover it. Now get your shit together. We’re leaving.”

“Hyung…”

I clenched my hands and grit my teeth. It took everything in me to hold back.

“Shut. Up.”

“Hyung?” Seungri looked pitiable. Or he would have looked pitiable, if I had any pity left.

“No. You are going to stay silent tonight. Completely silent. You will not speak to me. You will not speak to anyone else. You will **definitely** not speak if we see Luna.”


	2. Seungri Week, Thursday - Jiho

Mino really wasn’t going to stop calling me.

I had been ignoring my phone for the last fifteen minutes. I checked the screen. Six missed calls, and it was ringing again. I stretched, and figured I might as well pick up if he wasn’t going to stop.

“What’s up?” I tucked the phone between my shoulder and ear, only half interested in whatever was going on. I was so close to finishing this project.

“There’s a situation here. I can’t really explain, but I need an escape plan.”

That made me pause, quickly saving my progress. Mino wasn’t really the type to get in trouble.

“Aren’t you doing a show tonight?”

“My set’s over.”

“Can’t you get a cab?”

“It’s Luna.”

That made me pause. My curiousity was piqued. What Luna was doing with Mino was definitely a question worth finding out the answer to.

“Alright, but you owe me.”

“Yes hyung.”

“Where should I look for you?”

“We’re in the red room right now.”

* * *

 

I wasn’t angry, but I wore a scowl anyway. I didn’t quite understand why Luna needed Mino’s help. She was supposedly well embedded with Big Bang, right? Judging by how things had gone when I first met her, she should have easily been able to get G Dragon to pick her up.

The mystery was exciting.

“Thank you so much for doing this,” Mino looked outright frazzled. It was a strange look for him.

I had seen him stressed, under pressure, down to the point that he thought about quitting. Typically he flourished under those situations.

Not so now. He looked like he might give out at any moment.

“What’s going on?”

“We, uh…” he glanced at the door behind him, “just… we can’t talk about that here. Not with her either. Not yet…” he ran a hand over his face, smearing his eyeliner slightly, “it’s bad.”

“How bad?”

Mino opened his mouth, but paused. His eyes were glued somewhere across the room.

Turning, I saw what had grabbed his attention.

T.O.P was speaking with Bobby and Junhoe. Well, “speaking” was putting it lightly. He seemed to be interrogating them.

“If it was anyone else,” Mino grit his teeth, “career ending bad.”

”Something with Big Bang?”

“Seungri.”

I nodded. I wasn’t overly familiar with Seungri, but I vaguely recalled reading something about an ex girlfriend of his saying that he had hurt her or something. It had been international news at the time.

* * *

 

The first thing I saw when Mino opened the door was Luna, passed out at the bar. The second thing was the bottle, empty, laying next to her slumped form. The third, well, I’m only human… her legs, starting under a short skirt, ending at trainers.

“We’re not… kidnapping her are we?”

“What?!” Mino looked shocked. “Of course not! I mean,” he glanced at Luna and his face turned to embarrassment, “she was pretty adamant about not going with Jiyong. She said she wanted my help.”

“Okay,” I nodded, “but we can’t exactly be seen dragging her out by her hands or something.”

“Right,” Mino set his jaw and walked over towards where Luna was slumped over the bar.

“Noona? Come on,” he gently shook her shoulders.

She stirred slowly, looking up and blinking repeatedly.

“Here,” taking the knotted sleeves of the sweatshirt he knelt and turned so his back was to her and started pulling her onto his back, “just loop like this. Hyung, can you get her hood up?”

I crossed the room and tucked the hood of what I now saw was Mino’s sweatshirt up and around her face, blocking her face from view.

My eyes slid back to her legs. She might not be immediately recognisable, thanks to the hood, but discerning netizens could probably work out her identity via tattoos.

I shook my head. Nothing to be done about that right now.

We tried to make our exit as quickly as possible, but it was almost impossible. Luckily, Bobby seemed to read the situation pretty quickly and got a few others to usher us through the crowd. B.I was obviously curious, but refrained from asking questions as he and Jinhwan helped to block us off from too many prying eyes. Bobby kept making comments about “drank a bit too much” and “just gotta get to the taxi” to the more curious onlookers.

* * *

 

After what was probably in my top ten most stressful five minutes, we were clear of the building.

“You okay?” Mino asked Luna.

I heard a muffled “sorry” leak out from under the sweatshirt.

“Stop that,” Mino shook his head.

An even quieter “sorry” slipped out.

I had to laugh. Save for the situation, she was being cute.

We quickly reached the car, I mentally thanked god that I hadn’t gotten a ticket for my very haphazard parking job.

“Here,” Mino knelt down, “can you stand? Careful…”

I was actually surprised by Mino’s gentleness as he lowered Luna to the concrete. Even so, she stumbled slightly.

“Careful there,” I warned.

Mino quickly hooked his arm through Luna’s and helped her into the backseat of my car.

“Lay down noona.”

He quickly untied the sweatshirt sleeves and tucked his hat under her head. He turned to me.

“Hyung, give me your jacket.”

I handed it over, and he spread it over her body. She sleepily pulled it tighter around herself.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Yah, noona,” Mino patted her hair, “I told you to stop that. Just rest okay? We’ll leave in a second.”

He shut the door of the car and stood up. Running both of his hands through his hair he sighed.

“What the fuck are we going to do dude?”

I could only shake my head.

“What do you mean?”

“Where are we going to take her?”

I rubbed my forehead, “you mean you don’t have a plan?”

“Of course I don’t have a plan!” Mino snapped, “I wasn’t expecting Seungri to attack his date! Why would I have a plan?”

“Okay man,” I held my hands up, “that’s true. I just mean like,” I shrugged, “you don’t have a plan for if you met a girl or something?”

“That was one time!” Mino looked like he was going to tear his hair out, “can we please let it go?! Can we just focus?”

“Fine,” I laughed, “fine, of course. We can take her to my personal studio.”

* * *

 

“I don’t think I should be the one to wake her up,” I pointed out to Mino. “I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know that I’m here.”

“Okay,” Mino nodded, then shook his head, “but I’ve seen you ‘clean’ your studio before and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Besides, you don’t have to wake her up. Just wait for me.”

I rolled my eyes, but handed over my keys. Mino grabbed them and darted towards the entry.

“I’ll be back in a second!” He called over his shoulder.

I leaned against my car, next to the open door. It was fine for a minute, but then I realised how it must look. Any man, just standing guard by a woman passed out in a car, was surely suspicious.

I groaned and tied my hair back. Leaning down, I tried to gently shake her awake.

“We’re here,” I tentatively muttered.

She made a whining noise and sat up. I could see that her eye makeup was something of an encumbrance for her now.

I should start keeping tissues in my car.

“Mino,” she sounded alarmed, “where’s Mino?”

I stepped back a little, not wanting to exacerbate what appeared to be fear.

“He’s setting up a bed for you.”

“Who…” she squinted, then worked some of the stuck mascara off of her eyes, “Zico?”

I smiled, as much as I could in such an awkward situation.

“Ah…” I cleared my throat, “Jiho is fine.”

Her brows tensed, but she nodded and pulled the hat that Mino had made into a pillow over her hair.

“Where are we?”

“My studio,” I said it without thinking, but it felt strange. Nefarious, even. God, why was I on such high alert right now?

“You can sleep here,” fuck that made it worse, “and no one will bother you.” I spilled the words quickly, desperately trying not to sound creepy.

She blinked.

“Come on,” I held a hand out, “it’s really okay.”

She looked at my hand and started to slowly shake her head.

“I…” she seemed nervous. “I don’t know you?”

Fair. Obvious. Of course.

“I’ll wait for Mino to come back.”

I laughed, relieved that some of the responsibility was shifted back onto Mino.

“Alright. You want me to go ahead?”

“No!”

She quickly exited the car. At least I could lock up now. Of course now we were left to stand in an uncomfortable silence.

She seemed antsy. She kicked at the ground. I couldn’t stand it.

“What are you going to do about it?”

“Hmm?”

She finally looked at me. Her gaze made me embarrassed, so I quickly turned away. I didn’t want her to think I had been staring.

“I don’t know what happened,” I shrugged, “but it obviously wasn’t good. And right now you probably don’t want to think about it, but you have to have a plan.”

She didn’t respond verbally, but her body made things clear enough. Recoiling from the topic, slipping deeper into the sweatshirt and jacket, she obviously didn’t want to face it.

It must have been really bad.

She looked down at her body, then up at me, then started shedding my jacket.

“Here, yo-“

“You need it more than me.” I shook my head. “I’m basically a furnace anyway.”

She pulled it back on and hunkered down into it again. For a second, she just looked drunk and tired. Cozy, as if she were wearing a jacket her boyfri…

“My plan is to sleep, for now.” She managed to interrupt my train of thought right before I felt guilty. “I guess I’ll have to talk to Jiyong tomorrow.”

Jiyong. It made sense, I supposed. He was the leader, control freak that he is. He was the voice between company and individuals. No doubt he had manoeuvred himself to be her representative as well.

I kept my feelings to myself, and she seemed just as happy to do the same. Thankfully, Mino returned before either of us was compelled to fill the silence again.

“The place is pretty quiet. I don’t think there will be pictures or anything. Luna, just keep your hood up, okay?”

Luna nodded, sticking one hand out. Mino looked at it, dumbfounded.

She gave a nearly audible pout and wriggled her fingers.

“I’m tired. Show me?”

How Mino didn’t melt right there, I couldn’t imagine. I also couldn’t help but feel a little envious at how tightly she held onto Mino’s hand when he finally gave it to her.

Maybe Mino had a better chance than I thought.

* * *

 

My studio was sufficient. Renting a two room space had been a matter of maximising productivity. One side for work, a smaller room with a sofa for me to nap between work. Of course, that was for myself. Having another person use the sleep area made me realise that it might actually be less than sufficient.

Mino directed Luna onto the sofa, and grabbed some water out of my mini fridge in the work area. I pulled my blanket off of the back of my work chair and offered it over.

Mino laid it over Luna’s now supine form, and crouched down to talk to her.

This was obviously not for me to intrude on. I ducked back into my work area.

I sat and looked over my work layout. Somehow, the rush of being so close to finishing was gone. Instead of getting back to work, I pulled up hole.io on my phone. Of course, that didn’t necessitate headphones, so I could overhear some slight talk from the other room.

“Just sleep for now, okay?” Mino pulled the door closed after him as he returned to the workroom. He leaned against the doorframe, rubbing a hand over his face and through his hair.

The distinct click of the door locking behind him prompted me to speak up.

“How bad is it?”

“Well it’s definitely not good,” he sighed. He slumped down into the overstuffed chair against the opposite wall. “I don’t know what happened, but I could guess.” He shook his head and leaned back, staring at the ceiling. “But if I guess, I’ll guess the worst case. And if I convince myself of that I’ll do something stupid.”

I nodded, the game forgotten in my hand. We both sat in glum silence for a while until Mino spoke up again.

“Jiyong threatened my career if anything happens to her.”

“So that’s why you’re taking responsibility for her.”

Mino shook his head, then laughed.

“No. I…” he leaned forward, head resting in one hand. “I don’t mind doing this. She asked me to, so…” he shrugged, “here we are.”

“Not that I mind helping, but why?” I knew why. It was obvious. I just wanted him to finally say it.

Mino looked up at me. He was tired. His face was slack and a little puffy. Still, he smiled.

“I really like her.”

I chewed the inside of my mouth, nodding.

“She’s going to end up with one of them,” I couldn’t help but point out the obvious complication. “What will you do then?”

“I’m not convinced that things will work out like that. But,” he stretched and curled up into the chair, “I’ll deal with that when it happens.”

* * *

 

“Here.” I held out one of my cards to Luna. Mino was asleep in the back seat, leaving me relatively alone with Luna for the drive back to her hotel. “Don’t lose this. Mino is trying his best to win points.” I glanced in the rearview mirror, taking in Mino’s decidedly smooshed appearance. “And if my friend cares what happens, then I care what happens.”

Luna took the card, smoothing it out between her fingers. The corners of her mouth hinted upwards.

“Sturdy.”

I had to laugh at that. I’m not sure what I had expected, but that wasn’t it.

“Cute. But I’m serious right now, and I was serious before. You need a plan.” My eyes were now glued to the early morning traffic, but I kept as much of an eye on her as I could in my periphery. “Mino means well but he gets a little excited. So that,” I indicated the card, “is for if you need straight forward advice.”

She let out a derisive laugh.

“No one in this world is straightforward.”

I was taken back by the bitterness of her tone, but shrugged it off.

“I will be. There’s no reason for me to be political with you.”

“And why should I believe that?”

I thought about it for a second. She had a point.

“Because I don’t want anything from you. If I did,” I couldn’t help the slightly flirtatious tone that crept into my voice, “I’d probably already have it.”

She shook her head and leaned against the window. In a few minutes, it was obvious she had also fallen asleep.

Pulling into the hotel parking lot, I tried to find an inconspicuous spot. Finding no such thing, I settled for a not entirely on display spot instead. After turning the car off I gently shook Luna’s shoulder. I tapped a finger against my lips, seeing no point in waking Mino up yet.

Luna got out of the car and stretched. She looked at me, seemingly surprised that I also got out.

“Ah… thanks for your help tonight.”

I nodded, a little distracted by what I had decided to do.

“I lied to you earlier,” I opened up.

She frowned, tilting her head slightly.

“I’m not a nice guy that’s helping out of the goodness of my heart.”

She stepped back, body tensing. I should have seen that coming.

“Not like that,” I gave her the universal gesture of meaning no harm. “I just mean… well…” I dipped my hands into my pockets, hoping they would be non-threatening there. “I’m thoughtless, and all I focus on is my work,” it felt strange to be saying these things to her, “and I don’t have very many friends, and sometimes I’m a bit of an asshole.”

“Um…” she looked confused, “okay?”

“After my last birthday, I told myself that I should get to know more people.” I sighed, remembering the lonesomeness that had crept in after the party had ended. “That I should experience human life more. So that’s why I’m offering to help you out.”

She nodded. Her expression suggested she knew exactly the sort of thing I was talking about.

“So…” that slight smile perked her lips upwards again, “what part was the lie?”


End file.
